ADRN l Asia Democracy Research Network

What is ADRN

Home About What is ADRN

The Asia Democracy Research Network (ADRN) was launched in November 2013 to conduct research related to democratic governance and human rights promotion in Asia. By identifying emerging threats to democracy and suggesting policy responses, the network aims to contribute to the consolidation of democracy in the Asian region. By sharing expertise about our own countries, all members can develop a deeper understanding of problems and challenges in other countries and identify the issues that the region faces as a whole. Participation in ADRN is expected to increase the impact, quality, and reliability of the research produced by our member institutions for practitioners working for the democratization of the region.

The East Asia Institute (EAI), the leading public policy think tank in South Korea, serves as the secretariat responsible for supporting and managing collaborative research and the related activities of the ADRN members. EAI has received global recognition owing to its active, network based research activities and organization of regional think tanks in Asia. EAI is doing its outmost to promote linkage between ADRN and other trans-regional and global forums and networks working for democracy.

ADRN in Numbers

ESTABLISHMENT 2013

EAI launched the Asia Democracy Research Network (ADRN) in November 2013.

COUNTRIES 14

Asia Democracy Research Network (ADRN) has 14 Asian countries.

INSTITUTIONS 21

ADRN member countries includes 23 major think tanks.

VIEW MEMBERS

Mission

Our mission is to support democracy-related research collaboration and accompanying activities among our member institutions and think tanks. Ultimately, ADRN is commissioned to defend and promote democracy through critical analysis and policy suggestion

Vision

Our vision is to provide action-oriented and policy-driven research that supports the advocacy activities of Asian civil society organizations and the cooperation with the related international organizations.

We aim to achieve a region-wide consensus on how to deal with both specific and general threats to democracy, and to initiate inter-state and inter-institutional dialogues to reach such consensus.

What we do

Organizing Workshops

ADRN organizes workshops, generally twice a year, under the rotating initiative of our member institutions. All member institutions are encouraged to hold a national or a sub-regional workshop in order to engage local civil society organization leaders and policymakers. Some ADRN workshops and sub-group forums are held as side events at larger forums such as the World Movement for Democracy, Prague Forum 2000, and the Bali Civil Society and Democracy Forum.

Publications

ADRN publishes its research both online and offline. Our publications include thematic books, reports, and briefs. We also share videos of interviews with different experts, policymakers, researchers, and civil society activists as well as news about our workshops. We also share important democracy-related publications from our member institutions that are separate from ADRN activities.

Engagement

ADRN collaborates with other networks focused on democracy research and advocacy. ADRN is a member of the Asia Democracy Network (ADN), which is a network of practitioners and activists. Established at the same time, the two entities work closely in various capacities. ADRN also cooperates with EAI’s Myanmar program, which assists in the capacity building of local civil society think tanks. ADRN engages with the National Endowment for Democracy (NED), a bipartisan funding and research organization based in Washington, D.C., as well as other international forums on democracy. ADRN seeks to widen its cooperation with both non-profit and for-profit organizations who are friends of democracy and with governments interested in promoting democracy in Asia.